Formed in Durham City (north-east England) during 1991 from the ashes of various other local hardcore bands (Steadfast, Know Your Enemies, False Face, The MacDonalds...). Just like Kreuger, VOORHEES was the bastard son of a thousand screaming maniacs....Ian Leck and Sean Readman were the driving force and principal songwriters, and the first lineup was completed by Daryl, Gaz and Brownie.
A demo was recorded with this line-up which later became the "Everyone's Good At Something...Except Us..." flexi. One day Brownie went missing, and was never seen again. Lost to the world of techno and raves......making way for new bass player Paul.
Voorhees gigged regularly at this time, including a tour with Slapshot, and signed to Armed With Anger Records. The "Violent" EP was released, and some tracks were recorded for a Negative Approach tribute on Dysgusher records. Shortly after, the line up transformed into a more stable and long term one. Michael Gillham became the established drummer, and Graeme Nicholls the lead guitar player, joing Paul, Lecky and Sean.
Late '93 and early 94, songs were written for and beacame the infamous "Spilling Blood Without Reason" LP, released on AWA, arguably one of the most important UK hardcore albums ever. Shows were regular, including a European tour and a John Peel Session in early '95. (Hear tracks below).
Other releases recorded by the "classic" Voorhees line-up of this period were the "What You See Is What You Get" Ep and the split with Stalingrad, which featured Newcastle United's Kevin Keagan on the cover...
Voorhees made it to the US in early '96, playing shows with Hatebreed, 25 Ta Life, Charles Bronson, Drop Dead, Los Crudos and Enkindel among others, and playing in infamous hardcore dives like ABC No Rio, CBGB's and the Bomb Shelter in Minniapolis. This tour is also notable for the much exaggerated "riot" which commenced at the very first show in Connecticut. More of a bar brawl between Lecky and a guy (supposedly Earth Crisis's tour manager...) which escalated just a little...
Tensions grew on this tour however, and key members Sean and Gillham left the band. Over the next year or so, the band metamorphised into the final line-up; Lecky, Arms, Steve, Atko and Dave. Voorhees continued to tour regularly,both home and abroad, including further US tours and released the much maligned "13" LP, splits with Devoid of Faith, Out Cold, F-minus, Insult, Kill Your Idols, and the final full length "Crystal Lake's Legacy" . More recently a compilation of the last few years recordings was released entitled "The Final Chapter".
In October 2004, the Spilling Blood line-up of Voorhees (apart from Paul who was working in California and was replaced by Steve) got together for a one-off show, "Night of the Living Dead At Sea" , which was played on a ferry boat on the Mersey River in Liverpool....
Related bands;
BREAK IT UP (Sean, Graeme and Paul)
WALK THE PLANK (Lecky)
THE HORROR ( Steve, Arms, Dave and Atko) **UK & Europe gigs scheduled**
THE SEX MANIACS (Steve, Atko and Dave) **UK shows this year**
WE BE THE ECHO (Graeme) **US Tour in May & June 2008**
PRESTIDIGITATORS, SNOTNOSED, PELLETHEAD & more (Gilham) **Various shows scheduled**
GENTLEMANS PISTOLS (Atko) **Europe & UK shows scheduled**
Gilham, Sean and Paul also played in The Haters, some tracks of which can be heard here
PEEL SESSION TRACKS (recorded March 21st, 1995):